Looking back, looking ahead : land, agriculture and society in East Africa : a festschrift for Kjell Havnevik

Is Africa rising? Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa experience remarkable growth. Afro-optimists claim that an economic transformation is imminent, while critics argue that growth is mainly in the extractive sectors, with little improvement being noted among the rural and urban poor. This collection of essays focuses on East Africa, with an emphasis on Tanzania. It is published as Professor Kjell Havnevik retires from the Nordic Africa Institute. He has carried out research, taught and supervised students, and participated in policy debates on agriculture, the environment and development policies in Africa. In this volume, authors review the challenges that agricultural producers have faced in the past and risk facing today and tomorrow; customary and individual land tenure regimes; the character of current growth; and policy dialogue between the donor community and the Tanzanian government. Several contributions converge on the drive for large-scale land acquisitions, their potential and shortcomings, as well as on the policy alternative – investment in small-scale farming. The book also includes essays on religion and education. In addressing all these development issues, these essays are a fitting tribute to the work of Kjell Havnevik, his colleagues and students.Contents: Introduction / Michael Ståhl -- Reflections on the unravelling of the Tanzanian peasantry, 1975–2015 / Deborah Fahy Bryceson -- Land cannot give birth to new land / Stig Holmqvist -- Small-scale and large-scale agriculture: Tanzanian experiences / Andrew Coulson -- The rise and fall of the Paris Agenda in Tanzania: A study in trust and mistrust / Bertil Odén -- Promoting gender equality on land issues in Tanzania: How far have we come? / Aida Isinika and Anna Kikwa -- Land grabbing in Africa – a variety of primitive accumulation / Rune Skarstein -- Adjust or change? The debate on African economic structures / Mats Hårsmar -- Private or customary – whither land tenure in East Africa? / Opira Otto and Michael Ståhl -- Consolidating land use in Rwanda: Inclusive and sustainable rural development and lessons from Tanzania / Herman Musahara -- Large-scale land acquisitions in Tanzania and Ethiopia: A comparative perspective / Atakilte Beyene -- Witchcraft, witch killings and Christianity: The works of religion and parallel cosmologies in Tanzania / Terje Oestigaard -- Language, knowledge, development and the framing of common destiny in contemporary Ethiopia: some reflections / Tekeste Negash -- Land reform, natural resources governance and food security: Message from and to Africa and beyond / Prosper Matondi -- About the contributors -- Kjell Havnevik – curriculum vitae and major publications